You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page.

Enter your Email address:

Wolters Kluwer Health may email you for journal alerts and information, but is committed
to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without
your express consent. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this survey was to determine North American and European pediatric intensivists’ knowledge and stated practice in the management of children with acute respiratory distress syndrome with regard to mechanical ventilation settings; blood gas and SO2 targets; and use of adjunctive treatments at sites where actual practice had just been assessed.

Design and Setting: A survey using three case scenarios to assess mechanical ventilation strategies used in children with acute respiratory distress syndrome was sent out toward the end of data collection to all centers participating in the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Mechanical Ventilation study (59 PICUs in 12 countries). For each case scenario, intensivists were asked to report the optimal mechanical ventilation parameters; blood gas and SO2 acceptable targets; and threshold for considering high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, and other adjunctive treatments.

Measurements and Main Results: Many pediatric intensivists reported using a tidal volume of 5–8 mL/kg (88–96%) and none reported using a tidal volume above 10 mL/kg. On average, the upper threshold of positive inspiratory pressure at which intensivists would consider another ventilation mode was 35 cm H2O. Permissive hypercapnia and mild hypoxemia (SO2 as low as 88%) was considered tolerable by many pediatric intensivists. Finally, a large proportion of pediatric intensivists reported they would use adjunctive treatments (nitric oxide, prone position, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, surfactant, steroids, β-agonists) if the patient’s condition worsened.

Conclusions: Although in theory, many pediatric intensivists agreed with adult recommendations to ventilate with lower tidal volumes and pressure limits, the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Mechanical Ventilation data revealed that over 25% of pediatric patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome at many of these practice sites were ventilated with tidal volumes above 10 mL/kg and that high positive inspiratory pressure levels (> 35 mm Hg) were often tolerated.

Enter and submit the email address you registered with. An email with instructions to reset your password will be sent to that address.

Email:

Password Sent

Link to reset your password has been sent to specified email address.

Remember me

What does "Remember me" mean?
By checking this box, you'll stay logged in until you logout. You'll get easier access to your articles, collections,
media, and all your other content, even if you close your browser or shut down your
computer.

To protect your most sensitive data and activities (like changing your password),
we'll ask you to re-enter your password when you access these services.

What if I'm on a computer that I share with others?
If you're using a public computer or you share this computer with others, we recommend
that you uncheck the "Remember me" box.